There is a need to discriminate and effectively collect process gas containing high value desired gases, such as noble gases (Kr, Xe) from a source or effluent gas that is available on an intermittant and variable flow basis. It is very important that the apparatus to collect the desired gas not in any way interfere with the performance of the process equipment, such as a chemical process reactor to which the collection system is attached. Effluent gas from semiconductor processes, such as etching, typically are diluted at the process pump and then transferred through a gas manifold after the pump into a common effluent gas manifold that eventually goes to an abatement or scrubbing system. This comingling of effluent gases eventually dilutes the process effluent stream of interest making it very difficult to efficiently process to remove the species of interest, i.e., the desired gas, for recovery.
Gases which are either unacceptable as pollutant effluents or sufficiently valuable to recover are known to be recovered from waste streams from chemical processes. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,763.
Rare gases are recovered from effluents for packaging and transport to refinement and recycling. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,294,172 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,210.
Etchant gases from semiconductor processing are known to be recovered because of global warming potential. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,258,725.
Rare gas collection from effluent of semiconductor processing is known. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,134.
Recycle of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) from semiconductor processing is known. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,173.
Xenon recovery systems are known. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,285,154.
Xenon sensors are known. See US2006/00211421.
However, these processes do not address the discrete collection of the desired gas from other effluent gases passing through a chemical process effluent system in sequence and avoidance of upset conditions of such chemical process during the discrete collection of the desired gas. These and other advantages are obtained by the present invention which will be set forth in greater detail below.